Oral Medications For Underarm Sweating Available by PrescriptionThere Are a Couple Types of Oral Medications the Doc May Try to Stop Underarm Sweating and Hyperhidrosis
Please read these lines carefully and be safe.
Most likely before even thinking about oral meds, the Doc'll likely give you a prescription-strength antiperspirant like 'Drysol'. So you should probably read that if you haven't already. If the prescription antiperspirant doesn't work for you, then the Doc may move to oral meds. Classes of Oral Meds the Doc'll Try to Stop Underarm Sweating: Anticholinergics - There are a couple different brands of anticholinergics available. One popular brand is called Robinul (sometimes mistakenly spelled Rubinol or Rubinal). The generic (drug) name is 'glycopyrrolate.' Another one is called Ditropan. It's similar to Robinul. With regard to excessive sweating, anticholinergics work best for generalized sweating. That is, sweating that occurs over the whole body. If you have only severe underarm sweating, but no foot sweating, palm sweating, or facial sweating, anticholinergics may not be the best solution for you. Robinul works by blocking transmission of a chemical messenger (acetylcholine) that is responsible for excessive sweating. The catch is that anticholinergics work on many other bodily functions as well. Therefore, there are some side effects of taking Robinul for excessive sweating.
Few excessive sweaters experience a reduction in sweating with Robinul. Plus, there are a lot of side effects. Most excessive sweaters that have tried anticholinergics find that the side effects outweigh the sweat reduction benefit. Beta-Blockers - There are a two main brands of beta-blockers. They're called Inderal and Inderide. Beta-blockers reduce excessive sweating by reducing anxiety. They can be taken as needed. That is, they don't need to be taken everyday. They have a somewhat relaxing effect. This relaxation has reduced excessive sweating in some cases. It has not been shown to be particularly beneficial. There are some side effects of taking beta-blockers for excessive sweating, but they're generally mild.
Beta-blockers may be useful for excessive underarm sweating on an as-needed basis. Like, if you have some stressful situation that you've been dreading, it may help to pop a couple beta-blockers before hand. For the most part, beta-blockers are considered to be safe for most patients. They have also been shown to be non-habit-forming. Of course, consult the Doc about your specific situation. <Tip>My Doc told me that beta-blockers make your sex drive go Bye-Bye, and not necessarily your underarm sweating. ;-) </End Tip> Anti-Anxiety Medications - There are tons of brands and variations of anti-anxiety medications. Some of the common ones prescribed for underarm sweating are Xanax, Valium, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Lexapro, and Effexor (to name a few). Most of these have pretty serious side effects and can be habit-forming. Each of them works to stop excessive sweating (not very well) by altering brain chemical transmissions. The Doc'll likely prescribe one of these meds if they feel your sweating is more "behavioral" or "situational." In other words, they don't necessarily think that you have 'Primary Hyperhidrosis.' Rather, your perspiration is more of a "when 'x' happens, I start sweating profusely." These will have a mild sedative effect (similar to beta-blockers) that will reduce anxiety, depression, panic, etc. The side effects and usage recommendations are too extensive to list here, but a nice, neat chart can be found at www.healthatoz.com. Personally, I'm skeptical of prescription drugs to treat excessive underarm sweating and hyperhidrosis. I'm a natural kinda' guy. I think you're better off with Mechanic Method. |
